Category: Japan

Box From Japan: It’s Gonna Be May!

For a while now, Javier over at BoxFromJapan.com has been sending me sample boxes and they’ve been really out of this world. Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a new box every month to your door – it’s reasonably priced I think since you can’t find any of these in the USA, plus I’ve NEVER gotten a single instant ramen from him that I’ve ever reviewed before – and that’s definitely saying something. Not only that, he also has a candy box – all sorts of neat treats from Japan as well! Let’s look inside! ...see full post

High End Ramen Exploration Set From Washoku Explorer Of Japan

I heard about this from a post by a colleague in the noodle review crowd (yeah, there are more of us) and thought I’d see if I could give it a review. I got an affirmative, and this is what they sent. First – Washoku Explorer appears to be a website with offerings that aren’t only about being tasty food, but educating you on the foods from Japan. It looks like a really neat thing – click here to check it out.This will be a special upcoming review! For now, let’s have a look at what we have here. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2004: Nissin Donbei Dashi Shoyu Yakiudon

Well, here we are with the last of this Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been a lot of fun and I hope it;s been a neat one for everyone to see! I want to personally thank Mr. Okabayashi for all of his help throughout this process! Many were hard for me to figure out the names on and he was very quick to help. Not only that, he made sure there was a great variety to choose from for Meet The Manufacturer. So again, thank you very much! Today’s review will be this large bowl – the same shape as the Nissin UFO bowls. This is part of their Donbei line. You might wonder – so what’s yakiudon? Well, simply put yaki means fried. So, these are thicker noodles than what you would find in yakisoba. Let’s check this out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2003: Nissin Raoh Rich Miso Flavor

So this one confused me a little; I was sure I’d reviewed it before. In fact, here is review #1069. I’m noticing a couple of differences though. First, different bar code. Second, different water amount. Notice this one says 400ml for 5 minutes whereas the other says 430ml for 5 minutes. Curious. Let’s take a look and see what makes this big fancy bowl tick. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2002: Nissin Cup Noodles Tom Yum Goong

This is one of Nissin Japan’s ethnic series – this one being Thai in origin, they also have a Singaporean Laksa and an Indonesian Mi Goreng. This one looks a lot like the Nissin Cup Noodles that come from Thailand – usually there’s the guys from Manchester United on there as well. Let’s have a look inside and see what’s what. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2001: Nissin BIG Cup Noodle Seafood Clam Chowder

What – you thought I’d quit at #2000? Surely you jest. The beat goes on and on and on and on, folks. What’s crazy is I’ve never reviewed the regular Nissin Seafood Cup Noodle – however one has come into my possesion recently thanks to a reader, so I will be very soon. This is a very new one from Nissin – let’s check it out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1999: Nissin Curry Udon

Wow – the cusp of history with this review, folks. The next post will be #2000. That’s a LOT of reviews. It’s funny though; it’s such a regular part of my day that it doesn’t seem too insanely crazy to me anymore. But then again, yeah – most people think I’m pretty nutty, but hey it’s a fun hobby and it’s unique – I dig my niche. Anyways, one of my favorite flavors is curry. Since I was a kid and my mom would make curried chicken livers for dinner (she hasn’t made that in years; she questions the quality of chicken livers these days), I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Well, this is Japanese curry; usually not super spicy and leaning towards the sweet side which is always nice. Let’s have a look at this cup. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1997: Nissin Cup Noodle Vegeta Buta-kyabetsu Tonkotsu

This is a very yellow Cup Noodle! It’s a pork and cabbage tonkotsu andc I noticed that it mentions ‘1/3’ in a few spots. I believe this is denoting that this contains 1/3 of the daily intake of vegetables one should get. That’s great – I really like it when lots of vegetables are included in a variety! As for tonkotsy, tonkotsu is a pork bone milky broth ramen – one of my favorites. Let’s take a look! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1993: Nissin Raoh Tonkotsu

Usually when I make tonkotsu, I add on some barbecue pork. This is what you’d usually find as an appetizer at a Chinese-American restaurant – the bright red edged tasty sliced pieces. Well, I was fortunate and on my birthday, my wife and two sons accompanied me to Uwajimaya, a Japanese supermarket in downtown Seattle. I wanted to find the real stuff – the chashu pork. After a lot of going from one end of the deli to the other, confusion with what I was looking for and finally almost giving up, a man brought me a nice package of freshly sliced chashu pork. I had him slice even more and now I have a nice stash of it in my freezer. This will be the first one I’ll be using this with – pretty excited! Now the bowl version of this product no doubt comes with a dehydrated slice of chashu pork which is very nice too! Let’s have a look at this one! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1990: Nissin Cup Noodle

I thought I should start things off with the original Nissin Cup Noodle. It’s funny; I’ve never reviewed one of these before (except the Emergency Nissin Cup Noodle from Momofuku Ando Day #4, which is a bit different). The story goes that Momofuku Ando noticed businessmen on flights would ask for cups of hot water instead of coffee. They would put pieces of Nissin chikin Ramen in these cups and eat it that way. He thought hey – why not ma.e instant ramen in a cup form. He did, and now it is a ubiquitous item throughout the world. As you’ll see during this Meet The Manufacturer, there are many, many different varieties of Cup Noodle made by Nissin – from the logical to the surprising and unique. Cup Noodle has it’s own museum as well! In Yokohama, Japan! Find out more about it here. Let’s crack open this one – the original Nissin Cup Noodle. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Interview With Nissin Japan

The April Box From Japan!

For a while now, Javier over at BoxFromJapan.com has been sending me sample boxes and they’ve been really out of this world. Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a new box every month to your door – it’s reasonably priced I think since you can’t find any of these in the USA, plus I’ve NEVER gotten a single instant ramen from him that I’ve ever reviewed before – and that’s definitely saying something. Not only that, he also has a candy box – all sorts of neat treats from Japan as well! Let’s look inside! ...see full post

#1983: Tokushima Seifun Tokushima Ramen

Here’s another one from Wesley of Japan – thank you again! This one sounds interesting – in his note he says ‘stylized instant ramen of Tokushima Ramen (the real dish) which ras a sweet soy sauce base, shaved pork and raw egg.’ Sounds interesting! Looks like some narutomaki on the package as welol – think I have some in the freezer. Let’s give this one a try! ...see full post

#1979: Nissin Big Cup Noodle Ajillo

I could be wrong, but I believe this is the last one of the donations sent by Casey P. of Hong Kong – huge thanks to you! So this one looks interesting – it’s definitely much bigger than the standard Cup Noodle, that’s for sure. After a little research, it looks as though ajillo is a Mexican/Spanish dish which features shrimp, vegetables and sliced garlic. That definitely sounds good – let’s have a look. ...see full post

#1967: Tokushima Seifun Kinchan Ramen

This is the first I’ll be reviewing from Wesley N. He sent a box in mid December that arrived mid February from Japan – we’d thought it might have been lost, but it showed up – and in immaculate condition! Thank you again!Tokushima prefecture is on Shikoku island in Japan, and these varieties from Tokushima Seifun aren’t widely known and very localized. Seifun literally means ‘manufactured powder,’ referring to the flour mill. Wesley let me know that this is Tokushima Seifun’s very first product. Let’s have a look at this exotic regional instant noodle from Japan! ...see full post

#1956: Maruchan Spicy Tomato Salsa Ramen

Here’s another one sent by Casey P. from Hong Kong – thanks! I want to especially thanks Casey P., Jef M. and the folks on dpreview.com for all your help with figuring out all the settings and ways to use my new camera. It’s been an uphill battle for me, but I think I’m almost at the summit. This one looks particularly interesting – it mentions salsa on the label but the sticker mentions tomato. Not only that, the colors denote either Italy or Mexico. I’m going to guess Mexico, especially with salsa mentioned. but I guess we’ll see! ...see full post

#1943: New Touch Sugomen Niigata Seabura Shoyu Ramen

Here’s the last of the January box that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This one looks really fancy – I like the pic on the bowl with that nice looking broth! Let’s have a closer look! ...see full post

A Long Time Travelled Package From Japan

Today I heard a beep and then a knock at our door. The beep usually is the postman about to knock and then ask for my signature. Today, I received a package from Wesley of Japan! This is something he shipped back on December 18th, 2015 (it’s February 11th, 2016 today) and we weren’t sure it would ever make it here. But it did! Let’s have a look! ...see full post

#1927: Marutai Kogashi Negiiri Tonkotsu Kagoshima Ramen

Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! From the description, this almost sounds like it might be a vegetable tonkotsu, but I don’t know. Says lots of cabbage – interesting! Let’s hit it up! ...see full post